Badman is Back..
Just a few days back, I was thinking of, the changing face on the villains in the recent times… that the big, bad, conventional villains are now mostly restricted to comic acts in “so called” comedy films.. and the big question was “where is Gulshan Grover?”, “Did Hollywood actually consumed him?”.. “did the (no) news of Bond movie really pushed him in to the hide?”
Today a typical loud roaring laugh announced on TV… “Mujhe Sab Chahiye!” and I knew the badman is back… and he is back this time as the biggest badman of all time, RAAVAN… in a VFX based 3D animated film called Mahayoddha Rama, yet another one based on Ramayana.
The teaser was released with the screening of RACE and turned out to be a big surprise indeed..
Teaser of Mahayoddha Rama:
Ad film maker Raizada Rohit Jaising Vaid is directing this 3D film for Contiloe Pictures in association with PIXION which is doing the the CG Production. Kunal Kapur is chosen as the voice of Rama while Jimmy Shergil will provide voiceover for Laxman.. Some other interesting names for voice over include Ameen Sayani, Raza Murad, Sadashiv Amarapurkar, Mukesh Rishi and Sameera Reddy (for Sita) and Gulshan Grover ofc.. Javed Akhtar is penning the songs composed by Adesh Srivastava. Ashok Banker is writing the screenplay.
The film is expected to release around Diwali, and if teaser is any indication, it will Rock! Watch out for it for the vfx, the animation and for the Badman ofc..
Tags: Gulshan Grove, Mahayoddha Rama, PIXION, Rohit Jaising Vaid
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
maybe im a bit early to say this. but the character looks very plastic.
tushar/subrat, remember rohit? wasnt he supposed to do a writeup?
Editor’s Note (D) : Vishrant, Go easy on the language. Check PFC comments policy. First and last warning.
galat sab galat
nam hi galat hai
‘mahayoddha ram’
kissi ne kabhi ram ki bahaduri ki charcha suni hai. ram maryada purushotam hain. ramayan ram ka jeevan charitra hai. ram ne ravan ko mara. ye ek tathya ki tarah bataya jata hai. ram ki bahaduri ki tarah nahien.
arre salon, jo ye cartoon tamasha bana rahe ho, tumhare baap ne bhi kabhi ramayan padi hai.
saale, ram ko superhero bana rahe hain aur ravan ko villen. super heroes ki comics padke bade huye hain nalayak. ram ko bhi super hero bana denge.
valmiki ramayan to tumhare saat puston main koi nahien pad sakta. tulsidas ki manas hi pad lo. aur dekh lo tulsidas ne ram ka kya roop bataya hai. tum salon ram ko super hero bana doge.
ravan villen ho gaya. haramiyon ravan mahagyani tha. ram ne swayam ravan ki prashansa ki hai.
tum sale ramayan ko ek comics samjhate ho. ek superhero aur ek villen aur ho gayi ramayan.
ek shabad hai ‘leela’ iska matlab samjhte ho.
kaha jata hai ki valmiki ne ramayan pahle likhi di thi. ram bad main paida huye.
is bat ka matlab jante ho.
jo saale ye film bana rahe hain ‘mahayoddha ram’ inki gaanda main danda daal ke churahe pay taang dena chahiye.
[-x
Editor’s Note (D): I’m not the epitome of patience these days Vishrant. So one warning is all you get.
editor
you are right
there was no need of adjectives
more over
i am not against makers of such film.
they are free to make what they want
my objection is the way ramayan is interpreted
this is not how ramayan should be interpreted
but still
they are free to interpret
i don’t think that they can do any harm to ramayan
the understanding of ramayan in india is not so weak that this kind of cartoon films can do any harm.
and if ramayan is so weak that cartoon film can harm it. than my adjectives are not going to save it. ramayan does not need me.
film makers
go ahed
i just want to say, that according to me, your interpretatin of ramayan is wrong.
editor
this is not done
just one first and last warning
give me at least two more chances
three warning with increasing emphasis is good
just one warning is too harsh
>-)
Abhey chuthiye ithna gussa Kyon? Agar tumhe nahin pasand ho toh mat dekhna. Baat khata.
Admin Comment: Watch your language. Unless you want to be trolled or get your IP blacklisted.
Vishrant bhai.
This is just a promo. Reserve judgment till you see the film. For my money the promo doesn’t show anything offensive and looks quite similar in tone to the numerous adaptations done till now.
Btw since I assume that you have read both Valmiki and Tulsidas perhaps you can clear up this matter for me. In this article it is claimed that Sita is in fact Ram’s sister and not his wife in Valmiki’s version. Is this true ?
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/233491.html
Sorry I got em mixed up. It’s Tulsidas’ version. I have only read Hindi / English translations in which she is his wife so I’m curios bout this.
Mithun
this is just promo?
yes, but, chawal paka hai ya nahien ye dekhne ki liye sirf ek chawal se kam chal jata hai.
title of the film is ‘mahayoddha ram’
emphasis is ram as a warrior
from this i get to my conclusion about film makers understanding of ramayan.
ram is not potrayed as a warrior. he is maryadapurushotam. the ultimate right doer. maryada means moral code. ram is example of a person who never breaks any moral code. this is the main emphasis. he faught ravan because it was right thing to do. ram was not on a mission to save the world. if ravan has not abducted seeta ram would not have gone to lanka.
this word ‘mahayoddha’ changes the whole emphasis of the character of ram.
other thing in the promo
the way ravan is depicted. from this small clip i concluded about the way the character of ravan is potrayed. he is shown as a egomaniac, who has an embition to conquer all the worlds.
i agree ravan did all that. but he was aware of what he is doing. he was not delusion like some super villen.
there is line in mahabharat. duryodhan says ‘janami dharam na cha pravratti, janami adharam na cha nivrati.” i know what is right but i did not do that, and i know what is wrong but still i do it.
ravan was mahapandit he was not super egoistic, which this clip suggest as.
ravan ask brahma i want all. if you see ramayan by ramanand sagar, when brahma appears before ravan, ravan first did pranam to him. and what ever he asked, asked with folded hands.
i say the understanding of ramanand sagar is far more clear than those whose this clip is.
still
you have a valid point
its just a promo
i may be hurrying up to the conclusion
:>
about ram and sita
there is ramayan
now two points of view can be adopted towords it
first is of a beliver – who belives what ramayan says.
second is of a skeptical – who question the authenticity of it.
me
i belong to first category.
i believe what ramayan says
i concentrate on discovering the hidden truth behind this simplistic story
mystic Geroge gurdjieff has said that his words can be understood on seven lavels. he is talking about the seven layers of understanding. if i have a certain understanding than i will derive a certain meaning from a sentance. meaning that i am capable of deriving. if some one who has a higher understanding than me. will derive something totally different from the same sentance.
it is said that simple story of vikram and betal can be understood on seven levels. for most simplistic it is just a story.
but there are deeper truths woven it that story. this has been the way. jesus has told a lot parables. the parables of jesus are not just parables. they contain deeper meaning. those who can will see the deeper meaning. otherwise parables can be enjoyed just as parables also.
i believe that all the shartras which are in the format of story contain more than story. i aspire to understand the deeper meaning in them.
hence the factuality of ramayan is not a concern for me.
kathopanishad is dialouge between yam and nachiketa. someone can see it just like that. and start questioning how it is possible to see yam and have a word with him. he is being factual and missing the whole point. kathopanishad is not just a drama with dialouges. it is the ultimate expoundation of the mysteries of universe.
^:)^
Er I’m not really concerned with the authenticity or factuality of it.
All I’m curios bout is whether the two versions depict the relationship differently or not. It’s purely a trivia based matter for me so I’m hoping you can clarify it.
now the second type – the skeptical
before i go in what they say
first let us think about who they are
the sense of history of east and west is not identical. in east time is not linear. time repeats itself. this is what chakra in tiranga represents. this is the meaning of word ’sansar’ the wheel. world has been there from eternity and will be there up to eternity.
think of it. the nation that can save the whole life sotry of ram. can not save his date of birth. or where he was born. or what was the year he was born. there are no such facts in ramayan. actually ramayan does not supply any fact. it is not like history book.
and it is difficult to believe that a nation that has such a refined language as sanskrit. knows how to write. was not developed enough to save the facts about ram.
facts about ram are not saved because of the wheel understanding of time. ramayan is essence of a life. on which year that person ram was born is not important.
there is a story in ramayan. after war of lanka hanuman started thinking of himself as a great man. that he by doing service to ram, has done something that has never been done. once in some jungle he got lost. he was very thirsty, in jungle he found a cave, he went in, there was a woman. hanuman asked for water. woman said that he has to give something in the exchange. hanuman was wearing ring. woman showed him water and said that there is a pot beside, put your ring in that pot. hanuman drank water.when he open the pot to put the ring there were 14 same rings in the pot already. he became perplexed. he asked woman about it. and she said that you have got a big ego thinking that you have done something great. those 14 rings are also of hanumans of before kalpas. this is fifteenths kalpa and you are fifteenth hanuman. this is how it happens. after pralays again shristi than again pralay than again shristi.
this sense of time as a eternal recurring is the reason india never cared about facts. what does it matter when ram was born, where he was born, it has always been happening and it will always be happen. so ramayan captures the essence of life not facts.
when britishers first arrived in india they were amazed that such an ancient country has no written history. all they have in the name of history are purans which are more of stories.
with britishers comes the history as we know of it now.
:-b
ye lo
main fokat he gyan diye ja raha hoon.
no
the two versions do not depict the relationship differently.
:d
it is said that a drink brings out the orignal man.
when an english man is drunk
he became even more silent
when a dutch a drunk
he stars cursing big time
same way
if an indian is drunk
he will deliver a religious sermon
you see it is in the air
it is not my fault
:d:d
Rohit is a supercool guy. can never forget the 1 hr speech he gave. hope some of that coolness rubs off on the film.
editor
theek hai, theek hai
before i found pfc i was addicted to some other site.
some day i will found some other site.
as a last post here i will really blast out
maja aa jayega
editor, tumko to padna hi padega
ha ha :*
@Mithun 5:
thats shocker!!
Sita is Ram’s wife in both the valmiki ramayan and Tulsidas’ version. I have only read 4 versions(in English and Gujarati) so there could be other versions in which its different.
Cool thanks. Clearly then the gentleman who has been quoted is mistaken.
editor
you tell me to go easy with language
i too thought later on that you are right
i did actually used some harsh words
but think again
in my last line i proposed the use of ‘danda’
image in my mind was that this treatment is really bad
but
in this age of liberal sexualism
log bag khud hi …. 8-}
@vishrant
Ignore the filmmakers about their take on Ravana. They are just projecting what the majority believes in. If they show Ravana as a moral, pious man, the project will never take off!
In fact, as Ravana lays on the battlefield about to die, Rama sends Lakshman to talk to Ravana, so that all the gyan that he has will not be lost to this world. This is the high respect that Lord Rama himself had for Ravana.
Btw..here
is something interesting on the background of Lord Rama’s birth.
Not bad. I actually liked the promo. I hope the tone/color of the film is same dark through out the film. And some interesting name for the voiceovers as well.
HG, rest assured its dark enough.
Wicked. Have you seen bits of the fillum?
Well if you get in to the details of the film, this one seems to be specifically based on Raam.Raavan Yuddh, not touching other facets of Lord Raam (which made him Maryada Purushottam). Lord Raam indeed is considered a legend warrior so I dont think the film is mis-titled.
As for Raavan’s character portrayal in the teaser, The script writer has some hints on his blog ashokbanker.com
“It
Really? Ramayan again!
I like mythological stories but I don’t know how many times can I watch/hear/read the same story.
There is no dearth of good mythological stories in India….why tell the same stroy over and over?
@Vishrant(10)
So, according to that story, in all these kalapas same things happen? poora ka poora repeat telecast? I will be here in the next era writing this comment?
Hmm in that case what’s the point of doing anything if I’ve already done it and will do so again ? I think it’s time I took banwas in the fleshpots of Hollywood.
Btw so the inspiration for the Architect and sundry in the Matrix is Ramayan ? Sweet. First Star Wars and now Matrix. :-)
I thought Star Wars was Mahabhaarat and Terminator was Ramayan. No?
Anyway, I want to see some cool vimanas, flying chariots, and weapons in this film.
If it doesn’t have it then I will be disappointed!
@ sudhir
you have got a point there
zee tries something in that line with serial ‘ravan’ but it never really took off.
@ neeraja
yes if you do nothing about it.
you will be doing the same things.
unless you get bored with churning
and get yourself out of it
attain mokhha (enlightenment)
than you will be missing from next round of pfc
:((
narad began his bhakti sutra – athato bhakti jigyasa (now the enquiry into love)
patanjali began his yoga surtra – athyoganushasnam ( now the descipline of yoga)
badrayan began his brahmasutra – athato brhama jigyasa (now the enquiry into ultimate)
all the sutras began with ‘athato’ now.
this now is for that when you have had enough of world. and you want to start next journey.
that’s why they began there shastras with ‘now’
suggested readings
in search of the miraculous
by
p d ouspensky
for sturcture of universe
in this book ouspensky has reported his question answer with geroge gurdjieff
http://www.esnips.com/doc/a482d666-2eba-41d7-88c4-77b5e0f66f88/Ouspensky—In-Search-of-the-Miraculous
starnge life of ivan osokin
by
p d ouspensky
this is a novel based on the theme of eternal recurrence of life
http://www.esnips.com/doc/13a8bed6-edbc-4907-a253-cf03ac9f3b9c/P.-D.-Ouspensky—The-Strange-Life-Of-Ivan-Osokin
to get some idea about george gurdjieff and p d ouspensky
books i have loved
by
osho
http://www.esnips.com/doc/d80b0572-ab1e-407a-8a09-21184f1135b7/Books-I-Have-Loved
:-h
vishrant,
has the whole of world closed the windows for you?
If some one usedthe words Villain and Ravan together I would be the first person to contradict. not just because I am from Thamizh nadu where the dravidian parties rule the roost. I have read a bit of Kavi Kambar’s ramayan which is a glorified version of everything. Not just Ram’s piousness, even Ravan’s valour and discipline are hailed and glorified in Kamba Ramayanam.
Since the advent of dravidian movements, there have been some attempts in the films to capture Ravan as a hero.
There was a movie called “Lankeswaran” where they show Sita as Ravan’s daughter and not wife. Ravan abducts his daughter when she is forced to live in the forest because of what happens to Ram and this culminates in the war which sees Ram defeating and killing Ravan. Actor Rajesh played the role of Ravana beautifully in the movie, which in the 80s had to rely on strong Thamizh diction and drama style presentation without the help of any special effects. Recently Rajinikanth revealed a failed attempt of a movie “Lankeshwaran” written by Kalaignar Karunanidhi and directed by actor-director-music-director-lyricist T.Rajendar in the late 80s. the movie did not take off as rajini ad inhibitions speaking in classical thamizh.
With the advent of CG, one hopes to see more grand and interesting adaptations of the epic on the screen.
i just saw a promo of another animation film Ghatothkach and t’was rubbish. it was just like a few power-point slides! Why cannot they get the voiceover modulation right?!! I know it is hard, but still.. it is a poor poor quality!
Has anybody seen the trailers/videos of Bobby Bedi’s “Mahabharata”? I was really happy to see the animation quality. I think it is for a TV series not a movie. Has anybody got more info on this?
There is an interesting tidbit about Arthur C Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama. As per the story, the scientists mistake a spaceship to be an asteroid, and name it for Rama. This is because, they have run out of all Greek and Roman gods for naming stars, planets and asteroids, and so they start with Indian Gods.
Again was the concept of Pusphaka Vimana, a precusor to modern aeronautics?
The description of the Brahmaastra in fact closely resesmbles a nuclear warhead. Even if we assume it is imagination, to imagine something there had to be a basic knowledge.
Do the Ramayan and Mahabharat contain a lot of scientific knowledge hidden within lines? Just some thoughts of mine.
Raavan is not a super villian. He is a maha Gyaani, a pundit, an expert Veena Player, a devoted son and a warrior. It was not his lust which destroyed him, it was his own overriding ego. His refusal to part with Sita, as he felt that would be an insult to his ego. Just as Duryodhan’s obstinate refusal to part with even inch of land, led to the terrible war, and his own downfall. Raavan disregarded the advice of people like Vibhishan and his own wife Mandodari. He had immense faith in his own invincibility which lead to his death. I would not put it as downfall, because he died like a true hero, fighting on the battlefield.
Telugu cinema actually has a rich tradition of mythological movies. The late NTR portrayed the role of Ravana Brahma in Bhoo Kailas. This is one of the few movies which shows Ravan in a heroic light. Which gives us the other side of him? Here he plays a devoted son, who undertakes the Herculean task of fetching Shiva’s Aatma Linga, on the request of his mother. A very interesting movie, that has a towering performance by NTR as Ravana.
Thought i’d clear the misunderstanding, misinterpretation and the rabid insinuations of some people. The Ramayana has been written about 57 times, if you maove away from Valmiki, Tulsidas and Kamban. Including stalwarts like Rajagopalchari… their interpretation has been vastly different but within the same construct, of course sometimes the construct itself is challenged when we wonder about sita’s satus vis a vis Rama and ravana.
The genesis of our retelling was how about a 14 year old boy who has heard the story many many times from the minstrels of all Indian families, the grandmom, and now tells her to ’shush’ and undertakes the task of telling the story himself. We felt that there has never been an ‘interpretation’ per se of the story that reaches out to the audience as not just a pious tale of retribution, love, justice, etc but also one of extreme adventure and kick ass action. Rama has many names pre fixed, all that could be films in themselves… Dashrath Nandan( his relationship with his dad), kosaladheesh, ayodhyanaresh, Ramalalla, Raghuvanshanatham, Nilambhujh, shyamalkomlaangam, mahayoddha… etc. The point being that we need to reach out to a set of audience today that possibly doesn’t get access to the Amar Chitra Kathas, what with the PS2’s, mobiles and the world closing in, and another set that has grown up on the ramayana who will see and love a new interpretation of it… within the same construct. in a 110 min animation film, not CARTOON, to try and do justice to the story which is entertaining, and filled with values plus keeping salient bits of the story,there is no easy task. Ashok, Sameer Sharma and I lost it trying to go back and forth before we felt that this did justice, Yes ravana is no fool. but he was an egoistical man whose downfall was that one mistake of EGO. Yes he was a mahagyaani, but led astray by his own ‘maha-ness’. The truth is that we too have really made him super damn cool. Rama too is Maryadpurshottam, but not an ARUN GOVIL interpretation of a beatific saccharine man. he gets pissed, has issues with people who try and create imbalance in the world and dude he has come to kick some serious Rakshasa ass which is also part of the reason for his birth. in the next epic Mahabharat, do you hear of Rakshasa’s as a legion? Nope. this was also his job. to rid Prithvi of them. thousand he killed in Tataka Van,14000 he killed in Chitrakut and the rest in Lanka. Go further back and you will realize that this too is foretold because Ravana and Kumbhkaran OR Kamsa and Shishupala OR Hrinayakashyap and Kamali etc were all the same people, the dwarpal(door men) to Vishnu who were cursed by the sages for not allowing entry into heaven to meet with him. though Vishnu had the power to reverse the curse he chose not to, instead creating the possibility of coming down in different avatars to rid earth of different forms of ills etc. The only thing that the dwar pals (jay and vijay) asked for was to be killed by him in all their lives…..
we dont get into making a film as most film makers would know without a serious consideration of what and why we’re doing it. That involves reading, research and thought. Yes there is a desire to see it succeed and do well but there is also a desire for a story well told specially an epic that sits in every house with an aura of brilliant godliness. you might not agree with the interpretation but please be assured, we are trying to create good cinema within the construct of the greatest epic ever told(mahabharat is damn cool too…. my persional favorite, but god… so damn tough to make. the choice of omitting what gives me palpatations). so when you see Mahayoddha Rama, give it a watch and then decide.
@Vinay.
Hey Vinay. where can i share some of the pre viz stuff with PFC? as in to post it here? just so to get views on the look/looks of the demons, vanaras, Ravana, Mandodari et al…?
Regards.
@ Raizada RJV –
Please send it in as an iview post and the editors will take care of it. Thanks. Looking forward to seeing it.
Hey Rohit, glad to see you drop by.
@Pavan
Many apologies for that lovely name screw up. I got your mail and have reverted.
@Dabba
Thanks very much, am hoping for serious response for something we’re very keen and excited about.
@Tushar
Thanks bro. Very much. Hope to be around for a long time!!